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British Literature Survey
Reference Pages: George Eliot Group
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The
Reform Bill of 1832
by Jae Ha
General Information:
Also known as the "Reform Act of 1832," this political action was
taken in England mainly in order to increase the number of voters for the election
in the House of Commons. It also acted as a method to disfranchise the "Rotten
Boroughs" by taking away their rights to sending MPs to the English Parliament.
Led by Earl Grey of the Whig party, also the Prime Minister of England at the
time, the bill that was passed on June of 1832 reduced the number of Tory members
of the Parliament to 150 during the First General Election on December of the
same year.
Historical Context:
Historically, certain English Boroughs, or towns had the right to send their
Members of Parliament to the English Parliament to represent each town while
the towns that did not have this right voted as a whole. With the passing of
time which led to the population changes within English boroughs, created Rotten
Boroughs which were entitled the right to send their Members of Parliament
even when the population of such towns were small and did not sufficiently
represent the English population as a whole. On the other hand, new-found industrial
cities such as Manchester were not included in the rights to send Members of
the Parliament.
Political Context:
The Reform Act of 1832 added 217,000 voters to an electorate of 435,000 thus
allowing the vote of one out of five men of England at the time (Some say 1/7).
The Tories, which had been the ruling party prior to the Reform Act reduced
in size and political power as the Whigs successfully gained the majority of
seats in the parliament during the First General Election on December of 1832.
Works Cited
Pearce, Edward. Reform: The Fight for the 1832 Reform Act. Great Britain:
Jonathan Cape London, 2003.
Finlayson, Geoffrey. England in the Eighteen Thirties: Decade of Reform. London:
Edward Arnold, 1974.
Dinwiddy, J.R. From Luddism to the First Reform Bill. Oxford U.K.:
Basil Blackwell, 1987.
Clark, G. Kitson. Churchmen and the condition of England 1832-1885. Great Britain:
Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press) Ltd, 1973.
Evans, Eric J. Great Reform Act of 1832. London:
Routledge, 1983.
LoPatin, Nancy D. Political Unions, Popular Politics and the Great Reform
Act
of 1832. Britain:
Macmillian Press Ltd, 1999.
Paul
Marchbanks
marchban@email.unc.edu